The Old Furnace, in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, is to receive the IMechE's (Institution of Mechanical Engineers) 100th Engineering Heritage award this Friday (10 October 2014) for its place in the Industrial Revolution.
The Old Furnace is part of the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron complex and is cared for by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
It was using the Old Furnace in 1709 that Abraham Darby pioneered the use of coke, rather than charcoal as a fuel for smelting iron, an innovation that sparked the industrial age.
The Award will be presented at a special ceremony by IMechE president Group Captain Mark Hunt and John Wood, Chairman of the Institution's Heritage Committee to Barrie Williams, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
Engineering Heritage Awards recognise artefacts of particular engineering significance, with previous winners including Concorde, Mallard locomotive and the code-breaking Bombe at Bletchley Park.
The Awards were set up in 1984.
